Question 1

Design solution for the current problems faced in the touring and travel industry:

a) Framing a problem statement using Define and empathize

EMPATHIZE
This approach is similar to market research but we not only use available data and
feedback. We step in the shoes of the user to understand how they feel, see and
experience the service provided. This helps us empathize with the consumers
emotions and understand with precision, their pain points. We begin by
understanding the real experiences of travellers who book flights or hotels online.
Many users rely on platforms like Agoda, Airbnb, MakeMyTrip to plan trips. They
look at images uploaded, observe reviews, check ratings, and assume a certain level
of service or quality. However, in many cases, the actual experience upon arrival
differs drastically.
From open ended chats(interviews), shadowing and immersive experience we
understand certain paint points:
[Link] is happening to them?
The mentioned quality and services don’t match up to their expectations as digital
and real time UX aren’t aligning.
[Link] do they feel about it?
A wastage of time and choice is sensed with disbelief and anger against these
brands due to lack of relevance of the service.
[Link] causing this difficulty?
Misleading reports and over stated services provided for example
 Hotels not matching the pictures online (e.g., rooms being poorly maintained).
 Misleading amenities listed (e.g., “sea view” being a far view of the sea or
“free Wi-Fi” being dysfunctional).
 Flights listing in-flight entertainment and screens but actually providing bare-
bones services.
DEFINE
Creating a problem statement by using affinity diagram.
By taking user feedback, through shadowing and open-ended conversions we derive
that:

1. User:
 frequent budget friendly travellers and explorers.
2. Need:
 Justification of amount paid for the service provided to match demand and
customer satisfaction.
3. Insight:
 Guests wanted trust and clear visuals before booking.

Conclusion
Hence, with this we develop a problem statement “individuals planning trips, booking
accommodation and flights online often observe a serious mismatch between
promised services and facilities, and the accommodation or service quality received.
This leads to disappointment, lack of trust in providers, and lowered satisfaction
overall. There is a need for a more reliable, transparent and reliable service quality
across travel platforms.”

b) User Persona

Name: ABC XYZ

Age: 29

Profession: Marketing executive

Travel Frequency: 3-4 times a year, for leisure and work both

Booking portals used: MakeMyTrip, Airbnb etc.

Tech convenience: High online booking, reads reviews and checks ratings

Travel Stye: Budget conscious but willing to pay more for better facilities.
Pain Points faced by ABC, during booking flights and hotels online are:
1. Misleading photos and descriptions
 Hotel rooms are much poorly maintained and there’s improper hygiene
 Mentioned food and WIFI services are not met and false claims like gym and
libraries are mentioned.

2. Lack of standardized reviews

 Vague reviews and inconsistent reviews make it hard to interpret them and
fake ratings lead her to fallacy

3. Unclear or missing details

 Information like baggage surcharge, on boarding fees and lounge access
charges are not pre-mentioned during booking.

4. Lack of redressal chargers

 Negative reviews and experiences are not validated by refunds or future
discounts, free travel or more and customer service is slow and not much
helpful on the go during the travel.

5. Time and Emotional cost

 Wastage of time and emotion during travel in managing these convenience
issues faced and lack of brand loyalty due to fear of binge mislead again.

Conclusion
The gap between expectations and the world of travel engagement has been a
persistent and evolving problem, particularly in a post-pandemic world where
travellers are increasingly relying on computerized details rather than always. The
EMPATHIZE and explain stages reveal that users of Riya demand a clear,
trustworthy, and verified representation of services, not just glitzy marketing material.
For the development of satisfaction and loyalty in the tourism and travel sector, it is
necessary to address these needs.
Question 2

In the Travel & Tourism industry, food and beverage services are required to be at
their finest for the best experience and hospitality of a place.

To understand and improve customer satisfaction in this domain, a strong Design

Research Framework (DRF) is required. It must be a detailed and structured report
with uniform datasets in both qualitative and quantitative attributes in order to gauge
the customer model accurately,

User Research Methods

1. User Interviews (First option):

User interviews offer clarity and depth on a person's personal experience. Food
experiences involve certain standard of expectations, geographical preferences,
hygiene concerns, ambience, service quality and taste

With interviews, researchers can understand deeper: Why was a dish disappointing?
What was the ambience of the dining place like? What astonished the person
positively about the place? Interviews also allow observation of tone, expressions,
and hesitation, giving nuanced insights into traveller psychology. This method is
ideal for discovering pain points that customers themselves may not articulate in a
survey.

2. Group Discussions (Second Option):

Group discussions (GD) work well because travellers are often seen to resonate and
hence get more vocalized about their emotions and experiences when surrounded
by similar groups of people. In a group setting, participants challenge each other’s
viewpoints, which reveals a broader spectrum of needs; backpack travellers vs.
luxury travellers, local tourists vs. international visitors, veg vs. non-veg preferences,
and so on. This method is valuable in the food and beverages domain because it
uncovers patterns of shared frustration or appreciation, giving designers a general
direction for service improvements.

Data Collection Methods

1. Online Feedback (First Option):

This is one of the most convenient methods by which a simple questionnaire in

printed or g-form can be taken by the customers in order to understand their
experience and their reviews .Classifying this data into positive and negative and
hence evaluating the review matrix is convenient by focusing on keywords .It can be
done in the form of pointer scales, star gradings ,bars and descriptive responses.
These reviews often mention highly specific issues:

 “Food was bland”

 “Staff wasn't polite!”

 “Great vibes and nominal prices,”

 “Portion sizes were good but food didn't seem fresh enough!”

Such details can help us change the design of the services and food quality more
effectively by analysing the exact pain points of users. Online reviews also span
diverse traveller groups that can give us access to a more enhanced dataset, due to
reviews from users of different geographical locations.

2. Online Surveys (Second Option):

Online surveys help to quantify the patterns that were discovered in qualitative
methods. After initial interviews and analysis of feedback, it can verify the scale of
those issues.

For example:

 How many travellers prioritize taste over hygiene?

 Do tourists value local cuisines or do they want a diverse food palate?

 How long is too long of a waiting time for holiday seasons?

Surveys work well for accuracy and exact needs, making them a strong second
choice. They help us to ask exactly what we want answers form and we can choose
what kind of dataset do we want the user to respond in. It’s a very convenient and
quick data collection approach.
Design Research Framework (DRF)

Below is the structured DRF tailored for this project.

A. Problem Statement Creation:

Step Description

Define Objective Understanding how travellers perceive F&B services while

away and recognizing the determinants of customer
satisfaction.
Identify Tourists, restaurant servers, F&B staff at hotels, travel agents,
Customers Base and local food sellers.

Establish Key Hygiene, portion sizes, quality, ambience, wait time ,taste, staff
Pain -Points behaviour ,wait times

[Link] Phase:

1. Primary Research Need

 User Interviews: 30-40 customers from various settings (country, food

preference, budget, eating habits)
 Group Discussions: 4 to 5 focus groups (around 8 participants each).

Objectives:
• Gather emotional opinions
• Identify hidden pain points
• Understand where all customer needs weren’t met

2. Secondary Research Requirement

 Feedback: Categorize 700-1000 reviews into useful datasets

 Online Surveys and reviews: Conduct organized surveys targeting 150 or

more participants.

[Link] Phase:

Affinity Mapping
Cluster insights into color themes such as:

 Food Quality

 Service Quality

 Management system

 Ambience & Convenience

 Cultural Preferences

 Money and budget

Insight Synthesis

Examples:

 Many tourists feel disconnected when menus lack local cuisine.

 Food taste expectations vary across travellers from different geographies.

 Waiting time is a high concern during festival season for international tourists.

[Link] Mapping:

Insight Opportunity

Long wait- time Provide prediction for the amount of waiting time required along
with the provision made for presales.
Lack of local The process of creating "local specials" menus that include
cuisines cultural storytelling is like curating an art exhibition where dishes
tell their stories through the medium of their ingredients and
preparation methods.
Staff behaviour Training modules about warmth, clarity, culture insight.
and hospitality

Hygiene Where food passes without first receiving a rinse of warm soapy
concerns water, the surfaces of garage cabinets create unwarranted dust
issues.

E. Concept Development

Create prototypes such as:

 Redesigned menu
  Improved service and staff workflow

 Mobile based ordering system for avoiding wait time delays

 Cultural dining experience included in travel package

 Post dinner immediate feedback slips

F. Validation Phase:

 Tries new concepts with selected participants for example, tasting menus.
 Gather feedback through interviews and Group Discussions

G. Final Recommendations:
A polished list of guidelines for the enhancement of customer satisfaction at different
travel spots, like hotels, food courts, and local restaurants, through F&B services.

Conclusion
An organized Design Research Framework clarifies or rather it gives a deeper
understanding of the expectations of travellers in the food and beverage industry.
Through the mixture of qualitative insights gotten from interviews and group
discussions with quantitative data from surveys and feedback, the real pain points
and unmet needs can be pointed out. This united method favours the design of
efficient, user-centred service improvements that will raise the total customer
satisfaction in different travel contexts.
 Image source:GeminiAI

Question 3(A)

For ideation and prototyping for the F&B domain I will choose mind-mapping. Mind-
mapping is basically visualizing ideas, as long as it facilitates a structured and highly
flexible representation of ideas, particularly when generating service enhancements
for stand-alone cafes or restaurants. Their own architecture promotes clarity, vision,
innovation and goals.
Why Choose Mind-mapping?

1. The Comprehensive and Flow Capture of the Complex Information of Ideas:

Mind function imposes a crucial problem, and its solution and further of its core into
its neural branches are drawn. This radial and flowchart like framework
sustains functional customer experience, technological and logistic dimensions. It
reduces cognitive overload by optically segmenting a large complication space inside
manageable clusters.

2. Improved Innovative Divergence (For better planning):

The branches and headers help us see the problem in a a clearer manner that helps
us understand with distinction all major pain points and strengths and leverage them
into our advantage
For example, we can decide on where all staff is needed and for what purposes by
crossing out areas where staff is needed

3. High Ocular Clarity and Immediate Comprehensibility:

The use of branch, symbology, and keyword makes a tidy ocular diagram that
stakeholders are skilled to perceive quickly.

The ocular hierarchy (essential → branch → sub-branches) shows tasks,

dependence, and capability in an obvious and immediate way.

This makes mindmaps exceptionally effective in the course of presentations or

collaborative sessions because they offer an instantaneous presentation free of
textual clutter.

4. The Effective Integration of Stakeholder Insights:

Mind-maps can be expanded dynamically during observation sessions, unit

discussions, or customer journey analyses.

New inputs, whether staff, clients, or management, can be integrated without

disrupting the overall structure.

This flexibility ensures that the brainstorming procedure remains comprehensive,

iterative, and harmonized together with practical needs

5. Smooth Transition to Prototyping:

The finalised intellect map naturally develops inside a prototyping scheme, as the
similar branch can exist to translate into testable features otherwise micro-
interventions.
For instance, the following examples are:

Sequence correctness → Electronic System Verification Prototype

Wait moment Reduction → Self-ordering Kiosk Prototype

This traceability among concepts and prototypes strengthens the coherence and
cogency of the design process.

Conclusion

Mind-mapping is the mainly appropriate ocular image means for the new situation
due to it providing a perceptually elegant, cognitively simple, and innovation-oriented
skeleton for search progression in the food and beverage support habitat. Their
ability to regulate inventions using administrative clarity would make them an
invaluable tool for imagination and subsequent prototyping.

Image source:GeminiAI
Question 3(B)

In the F&B sector, the stand-alone cafés and restaurants employ ideation as one of
its primary tools to develop new customer experience. The prototyping method helps
designers and managers to discover potential customer needs, point out areas of
functionality that are inefficient, and come up with new ideas for good dining
experience. At the same time, it was the prototyping which turned these concepts
into real and testable forms.

Among product, service, and system, service is the most impactful focus area for
improving customer satisfaction in standalone cafés and restaurants. Unlike products
or systems, service directly shapes customer perception at every touchpoint: entry,
seating, ordering, payment, dining and exit. The emotional experience of hospitality
often determines whether a customer would visit again or leave with a negative
review.

Why Choose ‘Service’?

1. Direct Influence on Customer Satisfaction:

A café’s service quality and hospitality like welcoming staff, cooperation,
helpfulness and warmness makes a customer feel welcomed and esteemed.
Even average food can feel elevated with excellent service qualities, whereas
good quality food might suffer when service offered is poor.

2. Flexibility and Quick Implementation:

You can make improvements in services (for example, by training employees
to handle furious customers or redesigning ordering processes) that take less
time and financial budget, and are easier and quick to prototype, just train
your staff effectively and hire appropriately.

3. Emotions of Consumers:
Warmth, clarity and cultural understanding must be understood and perceived
well by the staff. Since service is closely associated with these emotional
requirements, it opens great possibilities for innovation.

Prototyping in Service as Innovation

Prototyping helps test service ideas before final implementation for the enhancement
of a service sector. A café can use:

Storyboards: To visually analyse a customer’s experience from entry till exit

Service object creations: Mapping front-stage and back-end activities to identify

service gaps and customer dissatisfaction with current workflow.
Digital up-scaling: The user tries to reserve tables, check estimated wait time, see
menu and prices, perform pre-orders and make payments all through their mobiles
for more smooth access of service

Prototyping lets cafés to improve service tone, streamline the steps of interaction,
and find new touchpoints like greetings, dietary preferences-based suggestions,
instant feedback slips, or quicker payment methods. The process is done in
iterations which reduces mistakes, uncovers genuine customer responses, and
makes the final service experience seamless and uniform.

Conclusion

By concentrating on the service innovation aspect, there will be quick and continuous
improvements in the F&B experiences delivered. Prototyping allows cafés to try
things out with no risk, gauge the actual reactions of customers, and fine-tune their
concepts prior to the total launch. Through the Burritos mechanism of interaction
enhancement, friction points reduction, and the implementation of warm, culturally
aware service, cafés will be able to greatly increase customer satisfaction and loyalty
and that will be the case that they create memorable dining experiences which are
distinguishable from those in a competitive hospitality market.